Twitter Names NBC News Exec Vivian Schiller Head of News

She will begin her new position in January.

NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller will be joining Twitter as head of news, the social media company announced Thursday.

In preparation for Twitter's IPO, the company had been searching for an executive to develop news partnerships with media organizations.

The executive joined NBC News in 2011, months after resigning as the CEO of NPR. At the network, she oversaw the development of the digital properties of NBC News and MSNBC.

During her time at NBC, the network ended its partnership with Microsoft and the websites for NBC News and MSNBC were separated.

In the last two months, Twitter has named its head of music, Bob Moczydlowsky, TopSpin Media's former senior vp product and marketing, and head of commerce, Nathan Hubbard, Ticketmaster's former global president.

We're thrilled to announce @VivianSchiller is joining the team as Twitter's new Head of News Partnerships. She starts in January!